Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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The Master’s Voice
Without Honor / The Master’s Voice Story Lectionary 27 September 2015 The Lord Speaks to Moses from a Burning Bush Elijah confronts Ahab (I Kings 18) The Death of the Prophet Uriah (Jeremiah 26:20-23) The Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53) Psalms 7, 35, 37, 79, 119 The Lord’s Prophecy and Jesus’…
Salted With Fire
Salted With Fire Lectionary 27 September 2015 18th Sunday After Pentecost Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22 Psalm 124 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 Text to Life Pink Himalayan Salt. How has such a weird condiment become something we know about? Pink Himalayan Salt comes in big slabs or as a crunchy, coarse…
Preparing for Worship –Preaching Tip for Sept. 27, 2015
Part of giving a great sermon is NOT giving a great sermon. Are you sprucing up for a performance? Or are you in prayer asking God to speak through you? Part of preparing for the preaching moment is the prayerful moment. In fact, one could say that prayer should outweigh…
God’s Hotel
God’s Hotel
A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine
by
Victoria Sweet
Where can you find a story that links together the last almshouse in America, the most obstreperous medical patients ever, a medieval female physician, and modern healthcare? In the book God’s Hotel by Victoria Sweet. Published in 2012, God’s Hotel is a tour-de-force of non-fiction that is part memoir, part critique of 21st century medical practices, and part time-travel to a twelfth century infirmary. As you immerse yourself in the story, Dr. Sweet, named a Guggenheim Fellow for 2014-2015, takes you along on her spell-binding journey of her two decades as a physician at Laguna Honda Hospital. read more…
In Memoriam –Sir David Willcocks
This week one of the giants of choral conducting died. Sir David Willcocks, an English composer, organist, and choirmaster, was well-known in the circles of both amateur and professional choirs around the globe. Although best known for his work with the King’s College Choir, Cambridge (which he led from 1957 to 1974), Willcocks spent the majority of his retirement travelling to choir workshops and festivals, dispensing his dry British humour and his coveted encouragement throughout the choral community. read more…
Assumptions
A priest riding in a subway when a man staggered toward him, smelling like a brewery, with lipstick on his collar. Sat right next to the priest and started reading the newspaper. After few minutes, the man turned to the priest and stammered, “Excuse me, Father, what causes arthritis.” The…
Pastor’s Prayer –additional
Draw me today into fresh encounters with Jesus, O God. Make me a servant of love so that others may know how much You love them and I may know how much You love me. Let me not be afraid of new pastures, whether they be green or brown or parched. And as I pass through whatever the day’s valleys, keep my head lifted up to the mountain, from whence my help comes. Never let me forget the people Jesus welcomed . . . the greedy and the great, the bad and the good, the respected and the cheats. Even as the world becomes more callous and chaotic, may I never underestimate Your capacity to fashion the miraculous from the monstrous, even to make me a choice masterpiece from the mire and the clay.
—–Leonard Sweet
Astronauts
Two astronauts were preparing for a trip to the moon. They were sent to test out some lunar procedures on a Navajo reservation in Arizona because the terrain there was similar to the surface of the moon. During the course of the practice exercises, the Navajo chief arranged to meet…
Parabola
Parables Story Lectionary 20 September 2015 Nathan’s Parable of the Wealthy Sheep Thief (2 Samuel 12:1-9) Isaiah’s Parable of the Sorry Vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7) The Bramble King (Judges 9:7-15 and 16-21) The Linen Loincloth (Jeremiah 13:1-11) The Potter and the Clay (Jeremiah 18:1-10) Ezekiel’s Parable of the Two Eagles and…
When to Be Seated, and When to Stand Up!
When to Be Seated, and When to Stand Up! Lectionary 20 September 2015 Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost Proverbs 31:10-31 Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 Text to Life There are two types of teachers. There are those who ask their students, “Raise your hand if you have the answer.”…